Get Rid of Your
Sales Parasites

By Landy Chase

The career
development of a sales professional can be categorized as passing
through three basic stages. Each of these is a transitional period
in which the sales professional assumes a different persona than in
the previous stage. Because some parallels can be drawn between
these transitional phases and those that correspond to the insect
world, for humor purposes these stages will be called: Larval,
Termite and Parasite.

Sales Larvae are the
neophytes of the profession, and every one of us who has followed a
sales career started off as one. Like the name implies, a Sales
Larvae is a soft, sightless and legless individual who, due to lack
of business knowledge and experience, fumbles around blindly about
within the cocoon of their sales territory. This is not an issue of
ability; they simply haven't yet mutated into full-fledged
salespeople. Remember your first day in sales? If so, you certainly
went through a Sales Larvae stage. If you're a manager today, your
job is to turn your Larvae into full-fledged Termites as quickly as
possible.

Termites are those
salespeople at the top of their game. Fully developed, they are
equipped with the tools and skills necessary to methodically work
their way through the toughest sales barriers. Termites are the
workhorses of the organization, and drive the growth of the
business. Like Larvae, Termites are a relatively easy stage for the
competent sales executive to manage. It is the third stage of
salesperson’s development that gives most supervisors headaches -
the dreaded "Parasite."

What is a Sales
Parasite? These individuals are long-term sales employees who have,
after years of tenure within the company, no longer call on new
accounts, and live quite comfortably, off of the business generated
by existing customers. They have forgotten along the way their first
priority is to grow their market or territory through new business
development efforts. Thus, over time they lose their ability to
forage for their own food, and instead attach themselves to the
bloodstream of the host employer, drawing nourishment in the form of
a paycheck.

The "Parasite"
salesperson represents a difficult personnel problem. Because of
their time with the company, most executives feel obligated to cut
these people some slack and look the other way, allowing the
Parasite to feed off of the host company undisturbed. After all,
you have a tenured, long-term employee – one who has been a
dependable producer in years past. Further, they are often
well-liked and respected, and bring a lot of experience and industry
knowledge to the business.

However, as the owner
or manager, you have a business to manage. Check that - you have a
business to grow, and the job of a salesperson is to grow the
business, not just baby-sit it. Where will your company end up if
your sales force isn't meeting its growth objectives, especially
given the current economy?

There are significant
negative consequences to your Larvae and Termites for tolerating
this situation. Having a different set of rules for your senior
salespeople who aren’t out calling on prospects sends a poor message
to the rest of the team about you and your management style. In
effect, the policy that you are publicly condoning is as follows:

We have two (or more) sets of
standards - one for our Parasites, and one for everyone else;

We don't treat everyone equally;

We don't hold people accountable
for results;

Becoming a Parasite, i.e. not
having to produce new business, is a long-term reward for sales
seniority within our company;

If you stay around long enough,
you, too, may become a Parasite

Sound harsh? Don’t
forget that you are running a business. These issues have nothing to
do with popularity contests or interpersonal relationships, and
everything to do with the long-term success of your company. Yes,
you need to have good relationships with your direct reports.
However, you must hold your salespeople accountable for new business
results if you and your company are going to succeed. Therefore,
your Parasites must, at least partially, "morph" back into Termites.
These talented and capable freeloaders must learn to forage for
their own food once again. Here are some suggestions to reverse the
developmental process:

1. Consider
introducing a two-tiered commission plan that (a) pays a higher
premium on new business and (b) a reduced commission on work from
existing customers. This will serve to compensate your salespeople
for their efforts in a manner more corresponding to the effort
required to close business, and will put their focus where it needs
to be – on finding new sources of business. Announce this change
well in advance of its implementation, to give your people an
opportunity to prime the pump with new opportunities. Rest assured,
you will get a collective howl of protest from your parasites on
this idea; some might even elect to leave the company. Stick to your
guns. Don't forget that you are depending on your salespeople to
grow your business.

2. Tie more of your
rewards and recognition programs to achieving new account
development. Lavish praise and financial reward on those who respond
to your focus on new business. Additionally, tie in part of the
compensation plan to profitability of the business that your reps
are selling. This will serve to remind them that not all new
business is good business, and encourages them to be good stewards
of your company.

3. With a Parasite,
you have, for all intents and purposes, a dormant sales territory.
Give your Parasite a reasonable timeframe to change their work
focus, and monitor their efforts in new-account development. If they
show no interest in developing new accounts, or if they don't make a
reasonable amount of progress, give the prospects in the Parasite's
territory to a more aggressive salesperson.

4. Introduce
specific, reasonable accountability goals for new account growth.
Tie in significant financial incentives for goal attainment, such as
a quarterly bonus for meeting new-business objectives. At the same
time, introduce some negative consequences for failure to meet
minimum objectives. Parasites will generally not release their grip
on their host unless pain is applied to the source of the food
supply.

5. Finally, don't
allow your Parasites to hold you hostage. One of the most common
reactions that Parasites have to these management directives is to
threaten to leave the company and take their customer relationships
with them. They will often want you to believe that the future of
your company hangs in the balance of their continuing to represent
you. Don't believe it! Very rarely does a company suffer a
significant business decrease by the departure of a Parasite. You
don't want to lose them, yet they need to get with the program. Or
else.

Many of the
parasites reading this piece will squirm in their chairs as they
read through the above list. They will argue that it takes a
significant amount of skill and effort to maintain existing account
relationships. This is true. Don’t belittle the importance of client
relationship management. However, if all your Parasites are doing is
maintaining their customer base, it is inevitable that, sooner or
later, your business will begin to deteriorate. This is because
customers leave vendors on a regular basis due to circumstances that
are completely beyond your sales team’s control. For example: a
downturn in the economy, a new decision-maker on the scene, price
pressures, or mergers and acquisitions. There will be a lot of
Parasites who will dislike the message of this article, but remember
the quote from the movie The Godfather: “It's not personal.
It's business.” So go ahead and make your Parasites an offer they
can't refuse.